Shelli Jankowski-Smith
Shelli Jankowski-Smith joined Northeastern in 2004 as its first full-time Director of Spiritual Life. She brings a broad experience in campus ministry, after serving for fifteen years as the director of Marsh Chapel at Boston University, where she was awarded the university's 2003 Honorary Scarlet Key Award in recognition of highest contribution to the student community. She also has experience working in the Department of Education at the Islamic Society of North America headquarters.
She holds an MS in education from Indiana University and an MA in creative writing (with a focus on poetry and religion) from Boston University. Shelli also brings experience of a variety of expressions of spirituality through her work as a published poet as well as a practitioner of meditation, yoga, and Reiki.
For her work to effectively serve the broad spectrum of spiritual and religious student groups at NU, Shelli was recognized by the University's division of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs with the 2005 Outstanding Staff Award. Under her advisorship, the Multi-Faith Student Connection group was awarded NU's 2006 Diversity Grant for examplary work in hilighting religious diversity, by establishing an NU Spiritual Life Fair. She also serves as an advisor to the Islamic Society, winners of the 2005 Husky Award for excellence in a campus student group.
Under her leadership, the Spiritual Life Center has established a major annual interfaith student reatreat in leadership and spirituality, weekly yoga classes, open meditation sessions, "Take a Human Break" community coffee hours, the annual "Spiritual Wellness Week," and many other worship opportunities and educational programs. She continues to build the diversity of the chaplains' team and broaden the range of programs and other services offered to NU's faith groups and those who seek a deeper spirituality. In her work at Northeastern, Shelli strives to foster a supportive, lively, diverse and healthy atmosphere of spiritual life on campus, and invites members of the community to connect more deeply with their own moral, communal, and spiritual lives.
